Firstly, DAWs are standalone programs. You can't buy RB as a standalone program so that's why it's never reviewed. Its a partner program to BIAB that's bundled with it. Like rharv i learnt on BIAB and Powertracks so my workflow was established years ago. I do the minimum necessary in BIAB to create a track I like. Then i move over to RB where i have much greater control. JohnJohnJohn's point about RB 'losing' work you've done in BIAB is a good one. That's why i go to RB as fast as possible. i work there not in BIAB. it's easier and i have much more control and changes 'stick'.

so far i've not come up against a limitation in RB that means i can't do what i want to produce a finished song the way i like. i mainly need folk, country and pop songs and most of my stuff is straightforward as i would have played with a small band. i've more years than i care to remember playing in small bands with some success. as an advertising agency producer i've supervised many many recordings in big studios for a national broadcast. but i have no illusions that i'm an expert of the calibre some of our forum members are. i rarely need anything other than major,minor or seventh chords. maybe a slash chord now and then to give me a bass line.

if RB and BIAB were a car, they'd take you to the shops day to day, take you on a long drive comfortably and hold all the family's luggage. DAW's are ferraris in comparison. are you sure you need everything an all singing all dancing DAW will do? i think you are trying to produce backing tracks to play along to which is not a difficult task in BIAB and RB and BIAB often shows it jazz based roots which are harmonically and melodically more complex than the stuff i use it for.

so why not stick to BIAB and RB until you run up against something you can't do? if you decide you need a DAW, Cakewalk is free and there's a free trial of Reaper.

and going back to cars, my wife made me swap my beloved high performance two plus two for a family estate when our daughter was born. i didn't really miss it......................